Sensor Tower Monthly Social Media Scoop

Key Takeaways:

• TikTok has been banned on state devices in the US, Canada, EU, and most recently, the UK. These bans, and potential removal from App Stores, are driven by privacy concerns and misuse of user data

  • As of 1Q23 QTD, US users have logged nearly 87 mn hours/day on TikTok vs 118mn on Instagram, 110mn on Facebook, 39mn on Twitter, and 38mn on Snapchat. TikTok’s slice of the engagement pie would likely fall to one of their direct competitors offering similar short-form video content should a US ban prevail

  • An outright ban in any/all of these key markets would put a material dent into TikTok’s user base and growth prospects: 27% of the app’s MAUs are from the US, Canada, EU, and UK as of Feb’23

  • TikTok currently represents 14% of total CPG ad spend in the US across social networks per Pathmatics; it is also a major player in Food & Drink (13%), Media (9%), Retail (8%) and Health & Wellness (8%)

  • In addition to ad revenue, TikTok generates IAP revenue by taking a percentage of tips that users can give to content creators. All-time TikTok IAP revenue is ~$8bn, 25% from US, UK, Canada and Western Europe

• Twitter’s user base and engagement per user have declined post-Elon Musk acquisition. Twitter users logged 99mn hours/day on the app in Feb’23, down 8% YoY as it lapped a year since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, while MAUs have fallen three months in a row and are down 6% (as of Feb’23) vs Nov’22

  • Sensor Tower Churn Analysis data corroborates this declining trend in Twitter users with the churn rate on Twitter climbing three months in a row, up 2pps from Nov’22

• Pathmatics by Sensor Tower data indicates that four (Mondelez (#2), Coca Cola (#6), Best Buy (#7), and Merck (#10)) out of the top ten advertisers spending on Twitter in the 10 months prior to its acquisition have stopped advertising on the platform post-Elon Musk acquisition

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